25 November 2008

In this episode of On Orbit we have Space Based Solar Power (SPSP), Great Britain's lunar probe, a status update on the Dawn probe, SpaceX at it again,

In the Space Review, we have the 1st argument for SBSP that I have seen coming from the military side of things. Pakistan can and has closed access to the nearest port, Karachi, to American forces and can do so at any time. Coalition troops fighting in Afghanistan are dependent on over-land convoys from Karachi for supplies. With SBSP, isolated areas like Afghanistan, Diego Garcia and innumerable land locked countries can have independent access to electrical power. There are some detractors though and they bring up good points.

MoonLITE, is the next lunar probe in the the pipeline. The 100 million pound (pound sterling, not pound weight) probe is set to investigate the cause of the mysterious moonquakes.

JPL's Dawn spacecraft shut down its ion propulsion system as scheduled. The spacecraft is now gliding toward a Mars flyby in February of next year. "Dawn has completed the thrusting it needs to use Mars for a gravity assist to help get us to Vesta," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Dawn will now coast in its orbit around the sun for the next half a year before we again fire up the ion propulsion system to continue our journey to the asteroid belt."

SpaceX is showing off yet again, by completing a full mission-length firing of the Falcon 9's 1st stage. It was a static test and it lasted 178 seconds.

24 November 2008

Bulletin: Please visit www.thespaceshow.com/newsletterfinal.htm for complete information for this week's Space Show programs, contact information, listener participation instructions, future Space Show programs, special events, announcements, and more. The e- mail version of the newsletter has been abbreviated to save subscribers time and avoid some spam filter problems.

The Monday Space Show is live 2-3:30:30 PM Pacific. The Tuesday program is 7-8:30 PM Pacific, the Friday program is always 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific Time and the Sunday Space Show is live 12-1:30 PM Pacific Time. If you believe you are getting this newsletter in error, send a note to drspace@thespaceshow.com to be immediately removed from the mailing list. The Space Show does not support spam mailings of any type and will quickly address your complaint.

3. Wednesday, November 26, 2008: This show plays as an archived program. The first segment features Jim Lewis of Communication Concepts in Florida talking about his new documentary now being shown on the documentary channel, "One Giant Leap - 50 Years of the American Space Program." The second segment is a waling tour of the Falcon 9 pad under construction at the Cape, hosted by Brian Mosdell, Director of Florida Launch Operations for Space X. .

20 November 2008

JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) has completed the primary mission of the lunar probe Kayuga. Since the craft is still operational, JAXA plans to continue operating it, much like with any other probe.

For its primary mission, Kaguya circled the Moon in a polar orbit at 100 km above the lunar surface, the same as Chandrayaan-1. The extended mission entails reducing the altitude by half to 50 km. Then in May of next year, it will shift into an highly elliptical orbit. Apogee, or apolune when talking about the Moon will be back at 100 km. Perilune, the closest point of approach, will be an eye-popping 20 km. This will take place over the south polar feature Aitken Basin, a target for outpost locations. Normally, an orbital height of 20 km wouldn't matter for an airless body like the Moon, but because the Moon has an irregular gravity field, due mostly to Mascons, a 20 km orbit is unstable and Kayuga is expected to crash into the Moon.

Scarab was the testbed for both the RESOLVE drilling science package and the Michelin Lunar Wheel, developed by Clemson University for Michelin. RESOLVE featured a core sample drill developed by NORCAT (Northern Centre for Advanced Technology), a Canadian Space Agency contractor. The Bucketdrum rover was used to feed simulated regolith into the PILOT plant and Cratos delivered material into the ROxygen plant.

However, these were just the big name projects at the test. The were numerous smaller projects going on - testing of other gear from Canada and Germany took place during the near two-week project.

The main objective for the two week program was to get the experiements working in the field. This allows operation in non-ideal conditions similar to those that we would face on the Moon and allows us to account for them before we land. Hilo was chosen because volcanic soil closely mimics the regolith found on the lunar surface.

ASTRODAY.NET has the largest collection of pictures from the event and even a movie. Make sure you check them out.

I wholeheartedly agree with Harrison's views in this matter. Attemptingto bypass Luna on the way to Mars is a mistake. There are severalreasons why:

1. Luna is interesting and valuable by itself. No matter how much moreinteresting and valuable Mars maybe, the fact remains that Luna is thebest place in the Solar System to study the System's formation; it's anabundant source of high-value metals such as titanium and aluminium; isalso an abundant source of helium-3, the best known fuel for nuclearfusion; will be a preferable tourist destination for most Earthlings,tourism already having been identified as the industry most likely toinitiate and drive a space colonisation effort; and will be the perfectplace to set up large deep space telescope arrays.

2. Practice for Mars. You don't sail to the Americas using brand-newuntested technology when you haven't even been to Ireland. Luna is theperfect place to test a wide range of colonisation technologies beforetaking them to Mars, with the distinctly significant advantage that ifanything goes wrong, the astronauts will be only a couple of days fromEarth and not 6-9 months. On Luna we will need technology fornon-fossil-fuel energy production; water mining, recycling andpurificiation; air production and recycling; production of steel, glass,cement and other materials; dust mitigation; environment control; foodproduction; transportation; communications; etc., etc. While there willbe variations between the equipment developed for the two worlds, manyof the same problems exist, and developing the tools for Luna first willbe a much safer approach and will save time and decrease risk when we dogo to Mars. Apollo is the most successful space mission ever, yet thefirst 10 missions did not descend to the lunar surface; their functionwas to test every aspect of the technology and the mission beforeputting it all together. We need to take the same safe, step-by-stepapproach when colonising Mars.

To bypass Luna is short-sighted, impatient and dangerous.

I too will no longer support the Planetary Society. Like Schmitt, I am also Geologist whoshares many of the same views and vision for future space exploration. It is unfortunatethe society has lost focus, but I am glad Dr. Schmitt brought these issues to light.

17 November 2008

The tri-color Indian flag joins the the red, white and blue of the US and the red and gold of the old Soviet Union on the lunar surface via the Moon Impact Probe (MIP). The flag was painted on the sides of MIP.

The U.S. Navy's Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument will use an computer designed by British firm SSTL to look to for water ice on the surface of the Moon. The Japanese probe Selene failed to find any evidence of it but there is still hope that it is there in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar poles.

First Cemetery on the the Moon?

Celestis, a business that launches cremated remains into orbit, is expanding its business to landing capsules on the Moon.

Beyond the Moon: A New Roadmap for Human Space Exploration.The Planetary Society's new approach to space exploration in the future. And the reason for Harrison H. Schmitt's leaving his post as Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council and the withdrawal of his support for The Planetary Society.With Beyond the Moon, The Planetary Society has stated these goals:

Focusing on Mars as the driving goal of human spaceflight

Deferring humans landing on the Moon until the costs of the interplanetary transportation system and shuttle replacement are largely paid

Accelerating research into global climate change through more comprehensive Earth observations

Achieving a step-by-step approach of new achievements in interplanetary flight, including a human mission to a near-Earth object

Most notable is a de-emphasis on returning to the Moon and the emphasis on Mars as the eventual target of the space program. You can download the entire report from the Planetary Society's website as a 2.9 MB pdf.

---Having been deeply involved in this issue for many years, and having led several objective studies related to it, it is clear to me, and many other knowledgeable people, that returning to the Moon is the fastest and most cost effective path to Mars for the following reasons:

1. We need generations of engineers to relearn how to operate in deep space at and for long durations on a location that is more accessible than a trajectory to Mars or on Mars itself.

2. We have no clear technology approach for landing large payloads (40MT+) on Mars. Developing entry, descent and landing (EDL) concepts and testing those concepts in the Earth's upper atmosphere will be a major program in and of itself with uncertain cost and duration.

3. Knowing whether 1/6th g triggers human re-adaptation from the adverse consequences of 0g is critical to the design and mass of both Mars transportation systems and Mars surface operations.

4. Many concepts that will be required for operations on Mars need testing in a real-world deep space environment before committing to using those concepts in Mars exploration, including autonomous crew operations during entry, decent, landing and real-time exploration without communications support from Earth.

5. We need a heavy lift launch infrastructure that can support the assembly of large interplanetary spacecraft in Earth orbit, and the requirements to return to the Moon support the development of that infrastructure.

6. We need to develop an interplanetary propulsion system that allows continuous acceleration and deceleration so the travel time to Mars can be cut significantly. That also constitutes a program of uncertain duration and cost.

7. Depending on future understanding of several unknowns already mentioned above, access to lunar-derived consumables after leaving Earth-orbit may be necessary to reduce the launch mass of an interplanetary spacecraft to a feasible amount.

8. We need to certify sample collection and protection protocols on the Moon with exposure to lunar dust and polar volatiles as surrogates for micro-organisms or the planetary protection lobby will make sample return from Mars impossible.

9. We need to use robotic drilling and definitive testing on Mars to penetrate what is probably the only potential biogenesis and evolutionary environment on Mars that has been stable for >3.8 billion years, namely, the cryosphere-hydrosphere interface below the surface.

10. Extremely strong scientific reasons for further lunar exploration exist as have been documented by a large fraction of the lunar and planetary research community at the NASA Advisory Council's 2007 Tempe Workshop and by the National Research Council's recent study.

11. Returning to the Moon has a far better chance of sustained political support than does a far, far more costly, start from scratch Mars program.

Absent sustained and increased budgetary support for the Vision for Space Exploration by the incoming Administration and Congress, any deep space initiative will be in doubt.

12. Finally, becoming a deep space-faring nation again constitutes a mult-generational endeavor, particularly if Mars is in the mix. Unfortunately, the government-run, politicized K-12 school system will not currently support such an endeavor. It has totally failed several generations of young people, not just in STEM subjects but in history, language and economics. This problem has to be solve first. The people requirements for a return to the Moon should help jump start that process, although it will take a much more grassroots effort to be successful.

TPS Statement * deferring humans landing on the Moon until the costs of the interplanetary transportation system and shuttle replacement are largely paid

---This strategy would leave deep space activities, exploration and resources to others, i.e., China, India, maybe Russia, for the indefinite future. I believe that would be major step in initiating the decline of America's global influence for freedom and the improvement the human condition. Although I wrote the book "Return to the Moon" as an illustration of how it makes financial and national sense for private investors to provide the Earth with the benefits of lunar helium-3 fusion power, having NASA develop the initial Earth-Moon infrastructure may hasten the time when that alternative to fossil fuels and non-economic other alternatives becomes available.

---As a geologist, I love Earth observations. But, it is ridiculous to tie this objective to a "consensus" that humans are causing global warming in when human experience, geologic data and history, and current cooling can argue otherwise. "Consensus", as many have said, merely represents the absence of definitive science. You know as well as I, the "global warming scare" is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making. It has no place in the Society's activities.

TPS Statement * achieving a step-by-step approach of new achievements in interplanetary flight, including a human mission to a near-Earth object

---Returning to the Moon achieves "step-by-step approach of new achievements in interplanetary flight" far better than not doing so, as I have indicated in my list above. Not going by way of the Moon will make the Mars objective far more difficult and more costly to achieve.

---Also, returning to the Moon enables a mission to a near-Earth object if such a mission can be justified scientifically, operationally, or resource-wise. I remain a skeptic on all three but am willing to debate the point.

---Returning to the Moon further enables, in a much more timely fashion and would a Mars initiative, the capability to do something about diverting an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. We had this capability once, but lost it when the Saturn V assembly line was shut down in the early 1970s.

TPS Statement "In short, the Roadmap calls for "A new and flexible program, based on a series of important first-time achievements and an international commitment to exploration and discovery." International cooperation is strongly recommended both to reduce costs for any one nation and to increase public interest and support."

---I see that the Society has gone back to its roots on "international cooperation." If that phrase means "international management" of the critical path items in a Mars Program, then you clearly do not want to go to Mars. Nothing will prevent success with more certainty than to try this. The rest of the world will want a "one-nation, one vote" management regime for which history shows only a record of abject failure.

Many of the Society's members are good friends, but I just cannot support you in this effort.

Bulletin: Please visit www.thespaceshow.com/newsletterfinal.htm for complete information for this week's Space Show programs, contact information, listener participation instructions, future Space Show programs, special events, announcements, and more. The e- mail version of the newsletter has been abbreviated to save subscribers time and avoid some spam filter problems.

The Monday Space Show is live 2-3:30:30 PM Pacific. The Tuesday program is 7-8:30 PM Pacific, the Friday program is always 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific Time and the Sunday Space Show is live 12-1:30 PM Pacific Time. Check each week for added programming to this regular schedule. If you believe you are getting this newsletter in error, send a note to drspace@thespaceshow.com to be immediately removed from the mailing list. The Space Show does not support spam mailings of any type and will quickly address your complaint.

Programming For The Week Of November 17, 2008 :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1. Monday, November 17, 2008, 2-3:30 PM Pacific: As I am still at the Cape, this will be a special taped show describing what its like to see a Space Shuttle launch. I will also include how one can get VIP tickets to see the launch plus other viewing options. When its posted on the archives, you can hear the show as any archived program.

2. SPECIAL TIME: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, 5- 6:30 PM This is a very special hard hitting two hour taped interview with Ross Tierney who heads up the Direct 2 team which has an alternative program to Ares and Constellation. Don't miss it. As soon as its listed on the website, you can hear it as any archived program.

3. Friday, Nov. 21 2008, We are back live with Leonard David, senior writer for Space.com.

14 November 2008

Phase 1 of China's Lunar Probe Project is complete according to Chinese scientists. The mapping of the lunar surface by the probe Chang'e-1 was performed over the course of a year. As of yet, the Chinese government hasn't release the maps to the general public. There is another probe in the pipeline, Chang'e-2 and a rover scheduled for a 2012 launch as phase two for the China lunar program. Around 2017, sample return rover is scheduled as the third stage.

India's lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 has reached its final lunar orbit. Orbiting at about a height of 100 km above the surface, Chandrayaan-1 takes about two (2) hours complete an orbit of the Moon. Chandrayaan-1 is projected to have a life cycle of two (2) years. The next thing to look forward to is the release of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP)

The MIP has a mass of 35 kg and will be release at some point in the future while Chandrayaan-1 is in its current orbit. Flight time is expected to be about 25 minutes from launch to impact. The primary objective is to demonstrate the technologies required for landing the probe at a desired location on the Moon and to qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. Chandrayaan-2 has been scheduled for no later 2012. The ISRO has long term plans to send probes to both Mars and Venus.

13 November 2008

A historic first for the recently down on its luck Hubble Space Telescope. The HST has taken the very first visible light pictures of a planet orbiting a distant star.

Taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys, the image is of the planet this is known as Fomalhaut b. Formalhaut b orbits 10.7 billion miles from its primary Formalhaut, about two-thirds again farther from its sun than Pluto. It's calculated to have an orbital period of 872 years. Formalhaut b has upper limit of three (3) Jupiter masses set for it, because were it any larger, it would destroy the dust ring surrounding the star.

The white dot is the star Formalhaut. NASA and ESA scientists blocked the bright glare of Formalhaut so they could capture the planet Fomalhaut b, which is 1 billion times fainter than its star. The red dot at lower left is a background star.

The Fomalhaut system is 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis. It is white 1st magnitude star, with a mass of about 2.3 times that of our Sun and believed to be a young star. The Dusty disc is thought to be a proto-planetary disc and is offset from the center of the system by about 15 AU.

The existence of the planet was postulated because something was gravitationally modifying the bright inner edge of the dust ring that we can see here.

The planet does raise some interesting questions. It was much brighter than expected, leading some to speculate the existence of Saturn-like rings. The Formalhaut system is thought to be young, only about 200 million years old, versus 4.5 billion years for our Sun and it is expected to last only 1 billion years. Since the planet is so young, it should very hot due to gravitational contraction and very bright in the infra-red spectrum. As of today however, it cannot be picked up by any infra-red instrument pointed at it.

Those of you that live in the southern hemisphere or have access to Google Sky can see Formalhaut for yourselves, weather permitting.

12 November 2008

I found this here while stumbling along the 'net. It's a pretty good story by Terry Bisson

THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT

by Terry Bisson

"They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"Meat. They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"There's no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They're completely meat."

"That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?"

"They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come from machines."

"So who made the machines? That's who we want to contact."

"They made the machines. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Meat made the machines."

"That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they're made out of meat."

"Maybe they're like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage."

"Nope. They're born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn't take long. Do you have any idea what's the life span of meat?"

"Spare me. Okay, maybe they're only part meat. You know, like the weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside."

"Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They're meat all the way through."

"No brain?"

"Oh, there's a brain all right. It's just that the brain is made out of meat! That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"So ... what does the thinking?"

"You're not understanding, are you? You're refusing to deal with what I'm telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat."

"Thinking meat! You're asking me to believe in thinking meat!"

"Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?"

"Omigod. You're serious then. They're made out of meat."

"Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they've been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years."

"Omigod. So what does this meat have in mind?"

"First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the Universe, contact other sentiences, swap ideas and information. The usual."

"We're supposed to talk to meat."

"That's the idea. That's the message they're sending out by radio. 'Hello. Anyone out there. Anybody home.' That sort of thing."

"They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?""Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat."

"I thought you just told me they used radio."

"They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat."

"Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?"

"Officially or unofficially?"

"Both."

"Officially, we are required to contact, welcome and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing."

"I was hoping you would say that."

"It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?"

"I agree one hundred percent. What's there to say? 'Hello, meat. How's it going?' But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?"

"Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can't live on them. And being meat, they can only travel through C space. Which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact."

"So we just pretend there's no one home in the Universe."

"That's it."

"Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you probed? You're sure they won't remember?"

"They'll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we're just a dream to them."

"A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat's dream."

"And we marked the entire sector unoccupied."

"Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?"

"Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotations ago, wants to be friendly again."

"They always come around."

"And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were all alone ..."

11 November 2008

India's space agency - ISRO, recently successfully launched their first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1. Chandrayaan-1 reached lunar orbit this past Saturday, 8 November. According to ISRO Director S. Satish, Chandrayaan-1 fired its motors for orbital insertion at 1145 GMT for 805 seconds to enter lunar orbit. India is looking not to miss the boat on this newest space race that China and Japan have begun. National prestige is not the only thing at stake. India is also looking to join the commercial launch industry. India and China are not the only new players in the new space race. The Ukraine and Indonesia have signed a cooperation agreement and Brazil is developing its own launcher the VLS-1.

As of 9 November 2008, the ISRO began circularizing Chandrayaan-1's orbit around the Moon.

On Thursday 13 November at 2:30 PM EST, NASA will be holding a Science Update press conference to announce a major discovery concerning extra-solar planets. The discovery is big enough to merit being published in the Nov. 14th issue of Science.

The discovery was made with Hubble's Advance Camera for Surveys. Keep posted for more news.

10 November 2008

Bulletin: Please visit www.thespaceshow.com/newsletterfinal.htm for complete information for this week's Space Show programs, contact information, listener participation instructions, future Space Show programs, special events, announcements, and more. The e- mail version of the newsletter has been abbreviated to save subscribers time and avoid some spam filter problems.

The Monday Space Show is live 2-3:30:30 PM Pacific. The Tuesday program is 7-8:30 PM Pacific, the Friday program is always 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific Time and the Sunday Space Show is live 12-1:30 PM Pacific Time. Check each week for added programming to this regular schedule. If you believe you are getting this newsletter in error, send a note to drspace@thespaceshow.com to be immediately removed from the mailing list. The Space Show does not support spam mailings of any type and will quickly address your complaint.

Programming For The Week Of November 10, 2008 :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1. Monday, November 10, 2008, 2-3:30 PM Pacific: We welcome Dr. Jim Cartreine and Dr. Jay Buckey to discuss the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) interactive, multi-media program that will assist astronauts in recognizing and effectively managing depression and other psychosocial problems, which can pose a substantial threat to crew safety and mission operations during long-duration spaceflights.

2. SPECIAL TIME: Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008, 5- 6:30 PM Pacific: Marianne Dyson is with us about space education, the shuttle OFT program: call it "Fire in Mission Control and Other Untold Stories of the Shuttle Flight Test Program," and more.

3. Friday, Nov. 14 2008, As I am at the Cape to see STS 126, this program is a replay from early 2005 featuring two back to back interviews with Al Zaehringer. As soon as you see it available as an archived program on the website, its available as it will play as does any archived program. There is no actual start time for a replay.

4. SPECIAL TIME: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 9- 10:30 AM Pacific. As I am still at the Cape, this show is airing earlier than our regular Sunday program. It features David Hook from Planehook Aviation Services. We will discuss proposed new safety and security rules for general aviation flying services and more.

British scientists have overcome what is probably the biggest danger facing astronauts on the job: solar and cosmic radiation. There have been many different shielding solutions developed. One is building it into the spacecraft, at a huge mass penalty. Another is to build less into the structure of the craft and to have a "storm cellar" in the spacecraft where water is stored. Water is one the best passive radiation shielding materials in existence. With the work of researchers from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the universities of York and Strathclyde, a magnetic shield has been developed that offers almost total protection against charged particles. As Professor Bob Bingham of the University of Strathclyde described it, "solar storms or winds are one of the greatest dangers of deep space travel. If you got hit by one not only would it take out the electronics of a ship but the astronauts would soon take on the appearance of an overcooked pizza."

"It would be a bit like being near the Hiroshima blast. Your skin would blister, hair and teeth fall out and before long your internal organs would fail. It is not a very nice way to go."

Professor's Bingham's team is patenting their device and could have a full size prototype operational in five (5) years. Their mini-magnetosphere generator is about the size of a playground roundabout and uses about as much power as an electric kettle. If viable, it will see its biggest use in protecting astronauts from solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME's). Earth's magnetosphere protects us from both here on the ground.

A CME is so powerful that when one hits the Earth, it will disrupt the Earth's magnetosphere, compressing it on the day side and extending the night-side tail.When the magnetosphere reconnects on the nightside, it creates trillions of watts of power which is directed back toward the Earth's upper atmosphere. This process can cause particularly strong aurora also known as the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis (in the Northern Hemisphere), and the Southern Lights, or aurora australis (in the Southern Hemisphere). CME events, along with solar flares, can disrupt radio transmissions, cause power outages (blackouts), and cause damage to satellites and electrical transmission lines.

The designed system uses two (2) outrider satellites that can be switched on and off as needed. The only thing left is to figure out how to stop the radiation that doesn't have an inherent electric charge.

03 November 2008

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014.